Wedding invitations and wedding printed materials are a critical part of your wedding because they provide your guest with important information about your wedding! As important as the invitations are, many times it gets pushed to the end of the to-do list, and you are left hurrying to get everything printed and mailed on time. Especially if you are choosing to DIY wedding invitations, it is important to stay on top of all of the printing deadlines!

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Save the Dates

Save the dates should be ordered as soon as you have the wedding dates and sent out around seven or eight months before the wedding. One detail to remember, if you are using a picture with your save the date, the engagement session needs to happen about a month before you plan on getting the save the dates printed.

It is best to have your guest list and addresses completed before you order the save the dates. Your first reaction may be to order a save the date for each guest, but keep in mind that many of your guests are couples or families who live together, and they will only need one save the date between them. It will help keep cost down as well!

Now is a good time to learn the invitation addressing etiquette. The more comfortable you are with it now, it will make addressing the actual wedding invitations a breeze! Here is an easy printable wedding addressing template we love!

Here are some great examples of save the dates (with and without using personalized pictures):

Wedding save the date card with picture of the couple

Gray rustic outdoor inspired wedding invitation

Wedding Invitations

Wedding invitations are ordered around five months before the wedding and mailed out around two and a half months before the wedding. Keep in mind; you want to give guest about a month to send back their RSVP cards, and you want the RSVP cards back around a month before the wedding (so you have time to call everyone who hasn't responded). Remember you will want to order around 15 extra envelopes to handle addressing mistakes and a few extra invitations to keep as a memento. When you receive your invitations from the printer, you will be in charge of putting them together. Don't forget to add that as far as your time to do so and be sure to read up on the assembly order here!

Here are some popular wedding invitations:

Burlap inspired wedding invitation

Full wedding invitation, response card, and ceremony program

Great Gatsby inspired wedding invitation with gold accents

Ceremony and Reception Details

The ceremony and reception printed materials can be a big undertaking. Many items need to be considered such as the ceremony program, the menu cards, the escort cards, napkins, coaster and any other signs you want to use to inform guest of activities. The escort cards are hard to get printed because you need to know what table number guest will be sitting. The escort cards can be sent to the printer around three weeks before the wedding. The ceremony program and menu cards can be picked and printed around a month and a half because the details on both items are finalized relatively early.

Here are some examples of ceremony and reception details:

Wedding ceremony menu card in blue

Wedding ceremony fan program for outdoor wedding ceremony

Post-Wedding Materials

Don't forget about the thank you notes! You will need to have thank you notes for gifts received before the wedding and a different set of thank you notes for after the wedding. Gifts that you receive before the wedding should be sent out around two or three weeks following receipt of the gift. After the wedding, you can order personalized thank you note that features a wedding picture! Wedding gift thank you notes should be sent out around a month after you receive the gift.

Thank you notes are easy to order, here are a few great ones:

Monogrammed wedding thank you card

Post wedding thank you card with picture from the wedding

Mr and Mrs thank you card

The key to success is time and making sure you have added all printed materials to your planning timeline.